Buffalo chicken and blue cheese is my favorite flavor combo, period. There is just something about spicy vinegary buffalo sauce cooled down with creamy, earthy blue cheese that is a foodie match made in heaven. And because I love this flavor combo so much I thought, why not put these on nachos?
But wait, there’s more! Nachos are not a low carb food but if you swap out the tortilla chips for pork rinds then this recipe is Keto friendly. Now how do you feel about that? Now you can eat Nachos and feel a little less guilty about these. I finished these with a healthier version of Ranch that is Paleo and Keto friendly, meaning it is made with mayo using no seed oils (fyi most store bought mayo is made with Soybean oil which is TERRIBLE for you) and made with coconut milk instead of dairy. You can easily swap the coconut milk with sour cream or greek yogurt. My favorite store bought mayo is Chosen foods– be sure to read your labels, even the mayo made with olive oil or avocado oil still has soybean oil in it. Stay away from Soybean oil at all costs!
I made these on my Pit Barrel Smoker, which is a grill that effortlessly makes everything taste amazing, but you can make them on any kind of grill or in the oven as well (but you won’t get the smoky flavor in the oven!).
Smoky Deliciousness
Cooking Buffalo Chicken and Blue Cheese Nachos in a cast-iron skillet on the grill adds a ton of smokiness and flavor to this fun appetizer while also giving a fun presentation at the table. These are finished with a drizzle of creamy homemade ranch dressing to balance out the heat. Trust me, these are ADDICTIVE!
**Keto Swap Out- replace tortilla chips with pork rinds to keep this low carb!
Buffalo Chicken and Blue Cheese Skillet Nachos
Ingredients
- 6 boneless skinless chicken thighs
- 1 bottle Frank's Red Hot Sauce
- 1 stick butter
- 1 bag of tortilla chips
- 8 oz of blue or roquefort cheese
- 1 head romaine or iceberg lettuce
For the Ranch Dressing:
- 1 cup of olive oil or avocado oil
- 1 egg yolk
- juice of 1/2 lemon
- 1 tbsp Dijon mustard
- 1/4 cup coconut milk (you can substitute buttermilk or sour cream if you like)
- 2 garlic cloves
- 2 tbsp chopped fresh dill
- 2 tbsp chopped flat leaf parsley
- sea salt, fresh ground pepper to taste
Instructions
- Prepare your Pit Barrel Smoker for grilling- using your chimney starter get your coals lit and once they are lit then add them to your coal holder that is 3/4 full of charcoal.
- While the coals are heating up, make your buffalo sauce by combining 1.5 cups of Frank’s Red Hot sauce and a stick of butter in a pan and letting it reduce slightly.
- Marinate your chicken in half of the sauce, reserve the rest for serving later.
- Grill the chicken thighs for about 10 minutes or until an instant read thermometer such as a thermapen reads 165 degrees internally. Remove once you’ve reached your internal temp and let them cool. I always use a thermapen to check internal temp when cooking meat, especially chicken! It will read the internal temp in less than 3 seconds. The internal temp on chicken should read 170 degrees before you take it off the grill.
- While the chicken is grilling, go ahead and make your Ranch. If you use store bought you can skip this step (but it won’t be the same!).
- In a mason jar, combine the oil, egg yolk, and mustard with an immersion blender until creamy (you are making homemade mayo!).
- Add your coconut milk and the remaining ingredients until you’ve got the right constancy (you can add more coconut milk if you need to- try only to use the cream on the top).
- Take a 12” cast iron skillet and add chips to the bottom until it is about 1/2 full. Add your cheese all around.
- Chop your chicken thighs into thin pieces and scatter on the bed of chips.
- Place your skillet back on the Pitbarrel Smoker and let it bake for another 5 minutes or until the cheese has begun to melt and get a little smoked. (Be careful when removing the skillet and remember to use pot holders- it will be hot).
- Thinly chop your lettuce with a knife and add to the top of the nachos.
- Drizzle additional hot sauce on the top, and then ranch dressing.
You can serve with additional hot sauce and ranch on the side in case your guests would like extra sauce.
Prepare for Nacho Ecstasty! There will be NO leftovers!
Notes
**Keto Swap Out- replace tortilla chips with pork rinds to keep this low carb!
If you'd like to see the facebook live video I did of this recipe, here you go!
https://www.facebook.com/GrillGirlRobyn/videos/1406383349386526/
*Affiliate links have been used in this post
